Page 19 of Boss and Brat

“You okay?” she asked, pulling back to study his face.

“Not even close,” he said, grinning anyway. “But right now, I need you to help me shop.” He handed her the phone as if it weighed a hundred pounds.

She scanned the list. “Is all this for you?”

“Mr. Higgins sent me with it. He’s making me eat all my meals with him at his cabin.”

Sarah laughed, loud enough that a woman picking out avocados glanced over. “Told you your partying would catch up with you. How could you not go?”

“I had the best time of my life,” he said. “Just wish he’d let me go back and repeat it.”

She leaned in close, whispering, “Any boyfriends?”

“No. Just hookups.”

“Figures.” She nudged him with her shoulder and started tossing steaks, chicken, and ribs into the cart as if she owned the place.

“Whatever you think looks good,” Ethan said. He trusted her taste more than his own.

Sarah slid a pack of ribs into the cart and lowered her voice. “So… you’re working under Higgins now?”

Ethan kept his eyes on the meat case. “Yeah.”

She nudged him with her elbow. “And you like him, don’t you?”

“Why would you say that?”

She gave him a look—one she’d perfected back in high school when she tried setting him up with every quiet boy in the marching band. “He’s hot.”

“He’s also ex-military,” Ethan said. “And my boss.”

“Mm-hmm.” She grabbed a pack of pork chops, inspecting the label like it held classified intel. “Ex-military men notice everything. Patterns. Habits. People. Especially people under them.”

Ethan’s stomach tightened. She wasn’t wrong.

She dropped the pork chops into the cart. “But I haven’t seen him with any girls. Not once. Four weeks on the ranch and nothing.”

“He is hot,” Ethan muttered. “But that doesn’t mean he’s gay.”

Sarah shrugged, a small, knowing lift of her shoulders. “You’ll figure it out. Or he will.”

They’d grown up under a man who monitored every move, every friend, every secret. They knew what it meant to be watched. They knew how to read the watchers.

Sarah leaned closer. “Just… be careful. Guys like him? They see more than they say.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I know.” Changing the subject, he asked, “Are you really leaving soon?”

“Three days,” she said, grabbing another pack of chicken. “I still need a converter. And maybe a coat that doesn’t scream ‘American student.’”

“I’ll order you a converter right now. My accounts are all closed, so I’ll send you a link.” He scrolled to Amazon, copied the link and sent it to her.

“All your accounts?”

“Yes.”

“Dad’s so mean to you.”

“Paris is gonna eat you alive,” Ethan said with a grin. “In a good way.”